2020-2021 Boston University

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Mmm5777 said:
Hi! I'm looking for advice on how to answer one of the secondary prompts.

Please provide a narrative or timeline to describe any features of your educational history that you think may be of particular interest to us. For example, have you lived in another country or experienced a culture unlike your own, or worked in a field that contributed to your understanding of people unlike yourself? Or, have you experienced advanced training in any area, including the fields of art, music, or sports? This is an opportunity to describe learning experiences that may not be covered in other areas of this application or your AMCAS application. It is not necessary to write anything in this section.

Do you think I could talk about sailing here? I spent most of my childhood doing it, worked at a marina bc i like boats lol and then taught foreign exchange students to sail during college. I don't know if the experience is considered advanced training though??

My other contenders were my masters thesis, or the fact that I've been a semi-professional musician for 10+ years but I mentioned those on my primary.
Thanks for your help!
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N=1 but I think you could also talk about a specific experience regarding your music career. I played competitive table tennis which was mentioned in my primary, but wrote about a summer I spent training in China for the prompt and got an interview.
 
Exocus said:
N=1 but I think you could also talk about a specific experience regarding your music career. I played competitive table tennis which was mentioned in my primary, but wrote about a summer I spent training in China for the prompt and got an interview.
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Thanks for the reply. I went pretty in depth on my primary about music ...talked about touring and my album release so there aren't many experiences that I didn't touch on. I ended up talking about sailing for this prompt. I talked about how I helped my dad restore an old boat and what went into it...basically just tried to make it as engaging as possible. Hope your interview went well!
 
hebrewhomie said:
Do we know when post II-R's come? Like a few days after/a week? Just wondering if I should be bracing myself lol
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During my interview, I was told that the committee meets in December to discuss the first batch of interviewees. There may be occasional post-II A or Rs before then (some people have already reported post-II Rs on this thread), but the vast majority of decisions will be released in December.
 
Sterlinyx said:
I would highly recommend trying to do it. Dean Goodell provides a lot of excellent information that can help a lot for the interview
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Sorry for the late question, do you know what the dress code is for the informational sessions? Would I be okay tuning in from my car during a lunch break, or will I need to take time off from work?
 
Veggie Lover said:
Sorry for the late question, do you know what the dress code is for the informational sessions? Would I be okay tuning in from my car during a lunch break, or will I need to take time off from work?
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If for the student panel - many didn't turn cameras on at all. Looked business casual -> informal. Only students there and they didn't care at all

If for Dean Goodell's session, all wore business casual. I doubt she'd mind if you were a bit different though or if you didn't turn on your camera. She was super chill although I do have to say that my session went nearly 2 hours just because of the sheer amount of talking/questions there were.
 
Sterlinyx said:
If for the student panel - many didn't turn cameras on at all. Looked business casual -> informal. Only students there and they didn't care at all

If for Dean Goodell's session, all wore business casual. I doubt she'd mind if you were a bit different though or if you didn't turn on your camera. She was super chill although I do have to say that my session went nearly 2 hours just because of the sheer amount of talking/questions there were.
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Thank you so much!
 
I don't know y'all. It sounds like the way they do it is they have a first pass where they either give a II, R, or delay. The delay emails get to a different queue for another set of eyes to either II or R.

Makes no sense if they review chronologically that someone would get a II now when complete early Aug, and someone else would get a R while complete in Sept. Like there are differences in reader speed, but if there's that much of a delay someone's just too slow.
 
ChicagoBob said:
I don't know y'all. It sounds like the way they do it is they have a first pass where they either give a II, R, or delay. The delay emails get to a different queue for another set of eyes to either II or R.

Makes no sense if they review chronologically that someone would get a II now when complete early Aug, and someone else would get a R while complete in Sept. Like there are differences in reader speed, but if there's that much of a delay someone's just too slow.
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I got a delay email and an II the very next day. I doubt there is a hidden meaning behind the emails.
 
vitafusion said:
I got a delay email and an II the very next day. I doubt there is a hidden meaning behind the emails.
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I don't know if time between the events is as important as the final outcome. If the data says that P(R|delay email) ~ P(R|no delay email) then it's pretty random. I don't see it as random from the data you just told me.
 
i also feel like they're looking for a specific kind of candidate. whatever that candidate is idk
 
What type of candidate do you think they are looking for? So many people with what seems like amazing stats & experiences but are still getting the axe!
 
AspiringDoc911 said:
What type of candidate do you think they are looking for? So many people with what seems like amazing stats & experiences but are still getting the axe!
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Based off of their info session, I think they are looking for people who are personable, passionate about service, health disparities & who have past service experiences with underprivileged groups. They seem to put a big focus on finding people who want to be on the “frontlines” of healthcare taking care of the neediest populations like low SES, immigrants, underrepresented groups, etc.
 
vitafusion said:
Based off of their info session, I think they are looking for people who are personable, passionate about service, health disparities & who have past service experiences with underprivileged groups. They seem to put a big focus on finding people who want to be on the “frontlines” of healthcare taking care of the neediest populations like low SES, immigrants, underrepresented groups, etc.
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Just to kinda go off this. I don't have the highest stats by any means but I think I was given an early II due to compatibility with their mission statement and philosophy.
 
vitafusion said:
Based off of their info session, I think they are looking for people who are personable, passionate about service, health disparities & who have past service experiences with underprivileged groups. They seem to put a big focus on finding people who want to be on the “frontlines” of healthcare taking care of the neediest populations like low SES, immigrants, underrepresented groups, etc.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much!
 
Another hypothesis for how they're processing apps:

When they first read your app, you either get an R or you pass the initial read. If the latter, your app must be looked at again in order to deliberate if you get an II. This would explain why IIs are only coming from people complete early/mid August, because there's a slower deliberation for IIs. The delay email is sent after X number (like 6-8?) of weeks you submitted, regardless of what your app status is. The reason that some people get the R but not the delay email is because it has only taken 2-3 weeks to get the R.
 
vitafusion said:
Based off of their info session, I think they are looking for people who are personable, passionate about service, health disparities & who have past service experiences with underprivileged groups. They seem to put a big focus on finding people who want to be on the “frontlines” of healthcare taking care of the neediest populations like low SES, immigrants, underrepresented groups, etc.
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Not really new info tho. That’s literally their secondary question.
 
joshuamarcus said:
Not really new info tho. That’s literally their secondary question.
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Well its probably new info for some people who aren’t aware of the huge service focus they have which is why they added that question this year. A lot of people apply just because they have similar stats and/or they want to live in Boston. The Dean of Admissions spent most of the session talking about the history of Boston Medical Center/BU as being a leader in social change/justice. She talked a lot about their programs like Healthcare for the Homeless. She talked about how they want people with a “jump in and roll up their sleeves” mentality.

I would say they’re looking for people who have gone off campus and really explored their community and have been engaged in bettering it for others.
 
bpinyourarea said:
Another hypothesis for how they're processing apps:

When they first read your app, you either get an R or you pass the initial read. If the latter, your app must be looked at again in order to deliberate if you get an II. This would explain why IIs are only coming from people complete early/mid August, because there's a slower deliberation for IIs. The delay email is sent after X number (like 6-8?) of weeks you submitted, regardless of what your app status is. The reason that some people get the R but not the delay email is because it has only taken 2-3 weeks to get the R.
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this is what i thought too but i was complete 8/12 and have gotten NOTHING/not even a delay email. 🙁 i don't want to manifest any bad luck by writing this but it seems like a delay email must come before an ii if someone like me is complete in august?
 
gavam08 said:
this is what i thought too but i was complete 8/12 and have gotten NOTHING/not even a delay email. 🙁 i don't want to manifest any bad luck by writing this but it seems like a delay email must come before an ii if someone like me is complete in august?
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not to feed the conspiracy but....are there people who have gotten an II without receiving a delay email?
 
bpinyourarea said:
Another hypothesis for how they're processing apps:

When they first read your app, you either get an R or you pass the initial read. If the latter, your app must be looked at again in order to deliberate if you get an II. This would explain why IIs are only coming from people complete early/mid August, because there's a slower deliberation for IIs. The delay email is sent after X number (like 6-8?) of weeks you submitted, regardless of what your app status is. The reason that some people get the R but not the delay email is because it has only taken 2-3 weeks to get the R.
Click to expand...

This might be the best explanation I've seen that makes the most sense without bordering tinfoil territory! Their website states an app is read no less than 8 times prior to an admissions decision.
 
Sterlinyx said:
This might be the best explanation I've seen that makes the most sense without bordering tinfoil territory! Their website states an app is read no less than 8 times prior to an admissions decision.
Click to expand...

Lol That is only slightly different than my theory 2020-2021 Boston University. The only distinction is when the delay email is given out, but the similarity is that in both, getting one means that you are still being considered (i.e. someone gave an initial review and did not give you an R) so it's a good sign.
 
vitafusion said:
Based off of their info session, I think they are looking for people who are personable, passionate about service, health disparities & who have past service experiences with underprivileged groups. They seem to put a big focus on finding people who want to be on the “frontlines” of healthcare taking care of the neediest populations like low SES, immigrants, underrepresented groups, etc.
Click to expand...

They rejected me and I worked with immigrants for 2 years and I have 2+ years of research in public health, literally if you get an R from this school I wouldn't trip
 
Did anyone just get the interview follow-up email? Do you think they'll accept letters of interest or just update letters?
 
Anyone have any thoughts on the theory of writing an update letter before their decision? I’ve read that some people have done it to get off the waitlist, but does anyone know if it’s worth it to try and prevent that?
 
I woke up to a text from them and I almost **** my pants because I thought it was an R. BUSM why do you do this to me so early in the morning?
 
what is the latest complete date that has heard back so far?
 
brokebiologist said:
Do we really need to ask for a rec letter from a new PI? How would they even be able to write about us if they only know us for a few weeks
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I was thinking the same thing! I only started my new research 3ish weeks ago so I feel weird asking for a letter already!
 
SurgOnc1d said:
Anyone have any thoughts on the theory of writing an update letter before their decision? I’ve read that some people have done it to get off the waitlist, but does anyone know if it’s worth it to try and prevent that?
Click to expand...

Also interested in this - I’d love to send a letter of interest but I have zero material for an update later (same job, same volunteering, not taking classes) unless BU is interested in my very mediocre attempts to re-teach myself the piano.
 
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